Dignified
by Rothery
Summary: 'How Miss. Potts dealt with this man daily she didn't know, for here she was not ten minutes in and she already wanted to throttle him.' - a world where Lara Croft meets Tony Stark. Ironman crossover
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: This story takes place after TR: Underworld...I'd like to think that (if there hadn't been and alternate ending) Lara and Amanda would've worked things out to a degree...and I thought it might be fun to throw Tony Stark aka Ironman into the mix. **_

**_It was orignially going to be a collaboration of sorts with the author whispers-of-the-sun, but he couldn't get into the right mindset to do it, so it's just Lara's POV._**

**_This is a femslash, as I love the Lara and Amanda pairing, and there are M rated chapters but I'll put a warning into the A/N just in case you don't want to read that type of thing, this first chapter child friendly so no worries there :)_**

**_Hope you enjoy..._**

* * *

_**Dignified**_

_**After Nepal:**_

The Abbingdon estate was nowhere near the wreck it had been only days after the explosion that had threatened all its occupants, all but one making it out alive.

It had been nearing six months now since then, and life just as surely as it should was slowly settling itself down, yes there was still an Alister shaped hole in all of them but they were dealing. Zip, more than anyone, found it more than difficult to move on so easily, they had after all been like brothers, but the American knew that Lara had had much experience when dealing with the loss of a loved one, more than most people could ever comprehend, and so knew how to get on with things.

And so therefore had gone and hired Amanda, without consulting him or Winston, to take over the now open position.

Zip hadn't been too happy with that, he'd gone off on one, dragging Lara to the side and tried to argue the matter, to all his raging she'd calmly replied with an arched 'brow "_Haven't you ever heard the expression: keep your friends close and your enemies closer?" _

He knew simply from that that something had happened between the two women during their trek through the Himalayas, but the man didn't question her, he simply stormed away, and then, minutes later the distant revving of an engine sounded, and one of Lara's more expensive cars was seen whizzing down the driveway.

She hadn't been mad at him, she understood he needed the time to adjust; it was of course difficult to greet the woman who, as Zip believed, may as well of pulled the trigger on Alister herself. But Zip had been wrong about that, they all had in fact.

During their cold several days spent together in the mountains the two women had fought, it was their usual '_don't think this makes us even' _argument and Lara had almost hit Amanda right before yelling at her about Alister, Amanda had replied that he was collateral damage, just like James had been, before mentioning that she hadn't actually meant for anyone to be killed.

"_Oh, so blowing up my house was just for fun, was it_?" Lara had asked sarcastically, cocking her head to the side.

"_I didn't order your house to be blown up Lara! All I wanted was the Wraith Stone back, no-one was supposed to get hurt!"_ Amanda had screeched, coming as close to Lara as she dared, throwing her hands into the air, she could feel Lara's breath on her lips.

She'd slumped, remembering how her Doppelganger had thrown Amanda over broad her own ship, Natla had been the one giving the true orders, playing them both, just like she'd said.

Lara had no doubt that Amanda was telling the truth, she had always been a bad liar, it seemed that over the years that hadn't changed, and it was in that moment that Lara saw a piece of the old Amanda re-surface, her blues lined with sympathy and an innocence she once possessed, before Lara had taken all that away long before the events at Paraíso.

Lara had, without thought of consequence, kissed the blonde, her lips crashing down on Amanda's with a rough passion that she thought had died on the same day she believed Amanda to have done. Of course the moment had been interrupted by a rescue helicopter that had been sent out to find the pair. It was one of the many reasons why Lara had hired Amanda in the first place, whether she admitted to it or not.

Winston had become accustomed rather quickly to Amanda's presence within the mansion, he was well aware of the kind of relationship Lara and Amanda had once had, as well as knowing Amanda personally, this however did not stop him from giving her disapproving looks within the first few months of her being here, when he believed her comments to be too harsh and insensitive.

She had however over the months proved herself to be a valuable commodity to Lara's little team, which was something that Zip couldn't deny, she gave advice and information just as well as Alister had done, the only difference being that Amanda did not seem squeamish at the thought of great falls, and Lara sometimes wondered if the blonde secretly wished for her to fall, though she was sure if Amanda did want her dead she would have killed her already.

It was a comfort to know that she hadn't.

And so there it was, a new start for all of them, six months of adjusting, and getting back into the swing of things, six months to get into a rhythm, to put bad air behind them and make amends, it had been a trying half a year, nobody could disagree with that, and now everything seemed to run like clockwork.

It also left Lara a good six months to prepare herself for an exhibitions opening at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C for which she was donating, for a temporary period only, thought to be non-existent artifacts – the non life threatening ones of course - that she had excavated on many of her digs, as well as a few of her father's notebooks.

It was only natural of course for her to ask Amanda to the opening party, she usually would have given some excuse about her not being able to attend certain events such as this, but in truth she had a soft spot for the curator of the museum, Mr. Goodman, and couldn't have said no if she'd tried.

She would've asked Zip, but as good as he looked in a tux, she wasn't fond of the bored shuffling about that usually accompanied him to highly rated affairs, and Winston if she were to be honest would have looked rather odd on her arm.

Reminiscing about the last few months was how she ended up here, in a penthouse suit in one of the finest Hotels Washington had to offer, with serious jet-lag, something which had surprised Amanda, who would never have guessed that some-one as travel happy as Lara could actually feel jet-lagged.

She rubbed the back of her neck trying to loosen the knots before turning the baths taps off, a warm cloud of steam rose from the calm water idly sitting in the oversized tub. She stripped off all of her clothing before carefully placing on foot in to test the temperature before jumping straight in. She took in a deep breath as the warm water hit her skin as she slowly sank down into the bubbles; the sound of U2 surrounded the room.

She closed her eyes and started to feel her muscles loosen up and her mind relax, it might've been the jet-lag, the bath or the glass of wine she'd helped herself to that had her suddenly feeling drowsy, or it might have been a combination of all three.

She sunk further into the water until her head was covered, her face barely visible through the bubble cloud that kissed the surface of the water. U2 became a blur as water filled her ears, she was barely aware of the banging against the bathroom door, or Amanda's panic ridden voice as she knocked against the wood; an hour had passed since Lara stepped into bath.

But within that hour time became irrelevant.

**_tbc..._**

* * *

_**A/N: he Smithsonian is the only museum I know of in America thanks to Bones, even though in the show its dubbed the Jeffersonian, Dr. Goodman is of course a Bones character in season 1, and for that I'm borrowing him. Thanks for reading :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I'm putting a warning on this chapter, so if you don't want to read femslash then you'll have to wait for the next chapter or just skip the middle half of the chapter...**_

_**NC-17...**_

_**Enjoy :)**_

* * *

_**Dignified 2**_

_**Washington, D.C**_

Lara smiled coyly as she craned he neck to get a better look at the hickey that graced the curve of her neck; she held the make-up sponge between her thumb and finger before proceeding to cover up the blemish, she didn't really want to though, it was a mark of ownership and she wanted people to see it, however Amanda had stressed that she wasn't fourteen anymore and therefore couldn't really pull it off without looking like a tramp, the dress she'd be wearing for the evening didn't really warrant it either.

_Such a shame, _she thought as she traced her fingers over the now undetectable mark, if she had it her way they wouldn't even be going out, she'd much rather of spent the evening locked up in the bedroom.

She smiled again; she could almost feel the softness of Amanda's lips on her skin.

_**A few hours previous:**_

"Lara! Are you still alive in there?" Amanda called through the closed bathroom door, "Lara! Goddamnit, answer me!" she'd been banging on the door now for at least fifteen minutes, and worrying for an hour before that. Lara's U2 album had re-looped itself and Amanda had grown a tad antsy at the fact that Lara had spent over an hour in the bath.

She put her hand on the door handle and turned the knob, opening the door cautiously, she walked in and when she didn't see Lara's head above the water, rushed over to the side of the tub and grabbed the brunettes shoulders and hoisted her up.

Lara was needless to say scared shitless, it wasn't every day that she was yanked out of a bath. She spluttered, and squirmed quite violently, before opening her eyes to find Amanda falling back on her heels, giving a sigh of release.

"_Amanda?"_ Lara choked, thoroughly confused.

"Don't _'Amanda'_ me; do you know how worried I was? I thought you'd drowned or something. D'you know how long you've been in here for?" Amanda said pulling her face in close to Lara's, her breathing coming out in short pants.

"You were really worried about me?" Lara asked casually as she tried hard not o think about where Amanda's hand was heading as it slipped beneath the bubbles.

"No, I was afraid of not being able to torture you as and when I please; you're really no use to me dead, Lara..." Amanda said with a simple shrug as her fingers skipped deftly across Lara's inner thigh.

Lara's breath caught in her throat as Amanda's fingers slid across her velvet flesh, her hips bucked, "What kind of torture?" she asked as she watched Amanda through half-lidded eyes.

Amanda skilfully flicked her thumb across Lara's clit before answering, "The excruciating kind." She muttered breathlessly against her ear as she nibbled it gently before biting it hard as she roughly plunged two fingers it to Lara's depth, smiling sadistically as Lara cried out. It was fun to watch her squirm.

She barely gave Lara time to collect herself before repeating the action, twisting her fingers slightly as they entered her, her teeth gliding over Lara's neck.

Lara's body pulsed, and throbbed around the intrusion. Her head lolled back against the side of the bathtub her hips rocking in sync with Amanda's harsh thrusts, as painful as they were she couldn't help but enjoy it.

Her skin itched, heat spread through her veins like a fire, as she slowly burnt from the inside out. It was the perfect consistency of pleasure and pain, with each thrust of Amanda's fingers there was a bite to her skin, a pinch of a nipple sending a wave of delicious shivers down her spin, the itch became almost unbearable, and the feel of the blonde's lips sucking on her skin didn't help much, her hips thrashed against the overwhelming pressure that started to build, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, as she felt herself slowly being ripped apart at the seams, slowly breaking down piece by piece.

And then almost as fast as it has come, it went, until she was left with her heart beating rapidly against her rib cage and Amanda's lips softly coming against hers, both she welcomed eagerly.

"I didn't plan on getting so wet..." Amanda said only half referring to her now slightly damp clothes as she pulled back, slightly breathless from the kiss.

Lara bumped Amanda's nose with her own, angling her lips over the blonde's, "We better do something about that then." She whispered seductively, as she wrapped her arms around the back of Amanda's neck and pulled her into the bath.

The taller woman fit against her perfectly, the curves of her body smooth against her touch. Lara ran her hands over the tops of Amanda's breasts and stopped when she felt the cool metal of the zip at the front of Amanda's vest-top touch her fingers, she took hold of it with one hand and ran it all the way to the end, the other hand deliberately pinching her nipple under the fabric.

Lara broke the kiss and awkwardly angled herself so that she could kiss along Amanda's collar bone and down the valley between her breasts, nibbling and sucking on the skin, the blonde shivered at her touch.

Once she had the zip down all the way she pushed the obstructing piece of clothing away and threw it somewhere on the floor, her fingers confidently made their way to Amanda's trousers, where she pulled the zipper down.

Amanda laughed at the brunettes attempt at trying to pull down her trousers which seemed reluctant to remove themselves from her silky thighs; Amanda was rewarded with a hard spank to the butt, she moaned at the stinging sensation, and spurred Lara to do it again.

The trouser's stayed on, but Lara's hand defiantly continued on its way, she snuck her hand into Amanda's damp underwear and began to rub the soft damp flesh between the other woman's thighs with hard strokes, every now and again circling her clit with a thumb. It didn't take long before the blond was convulsing above her.

They lay, spent, in the bath for a short while until the water turned cold, before getting out of the bath and heading into the bedroom where they stayed for the rest of the afternoon.

_**Present:**_

"Amanda, the car's here!" Lara shouted across the penthouse, hoping her lover had heard her; she didn't really want to flap about aimlessly simply because Amanda wasn't ready yet.

"I'm coming, I'm coming..." she replied as she exited the bedroom, her head titled as she clipped her earring into place.

Lara smirked, "Haven't you already said that to me today?" Amanda scowled and smacked Lara lightly on her butt.

The shorter of the two then took the time to give Amanda the once over, her breathe caught at how beautiful she looked, she wore a teal floor length dress with a slit up the side of one leg that ended mid thigh, the back was low cut, the bodice was much like a corset, with off the shoulder sleeves that came about her wrists, the material was lighter than that of the rest of the dress and slightly see through, but it hid her tattoos well, her hair was down as always.

Lara herself wore a burgundy silk dress, with a full skirt that skimmed the floor, with a square cut front that gave a nice view of her cleavage it had thin straps, the back showed a little less skin than that of Amanda's dress. Her hair was up in the same style to that of her mothers, a few tendrils of hair curled under her chin.

They were a very handsome pair.

"Well are we going, or are you just going to stand there and stare at me all night?" Amanda asked with a huff.

"We're going." Lara said as she followed Amanda out of the room and down to the lobby, giving her the opportunity to admire how well the dress showed off Amanda's backside.

Their chauffer also took to time to admire Amanda's posterior, this earned a scowl from Lara.

_Nothing could possibly ruin this moment, _Lara thought as Amanda surprised her by taking a hold of her hand and linking their fingers as they sat quietly in the Limo. Lara closed her eyes and tried desperately to tame her beating heart.

Her phone rang.

_TBC..._

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry if there are any mistakes. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and maybe tell me what you think...thanks for reading :D**_


	3. Chapter 3

The sound of Garbage's _'I'm Only Happy When it_ Rains' filled the Limo, making Lara hastily attempt to open her purse one-handed, desperate not to break the contact of their hands, in order to reach her PDA. It was, she believed, to be more of a struggle than trying to figure out the many puzzles she was faced with while raiding tombs.

She clenched the small bag between her knees and pulled on the zip, she became entirely frustrated when the bloody thing didn't budge, she felt Amanda loosen her grip around her hand, and with a small growl she tugged hard on Amanda's fingers, squeezing them tightly within her own.

She worked the zip again, "A-ha!" she exclaimed before reaching her hand in and pulling out her continuously ringing phone, ignoring Amanda's delicately raised 'brow the whole time.

"Zip! What can I do for?" she asked, placing the phone to her left ear, her phone awkwardly positioned in her left hand.

"How'd you know it was me?" Zip said down the line.

"Ringtone" Lara offered as a reply, she cleared her throat as Amanda rubbed her thumb almost possessively against the back of her hand.

"Right" Zip said sceptically, "anyway, I just called to let you know that some big names are turnin' up at this little shindig tonight."

"I am quite aware of that Zip." She huffed, slightly annoyed by the fact that he'd rung her up with information she already knew.

"Ah! But what you didn't know is that Tony Stark is one of 'em." he seemed quite chuffed with himself for revealing that little bit of information, it was too bad that the significance was lost on Lara.

"Do I know him?" she asked thoughtfully, as she tried to link a face with the name, Amanda watched her thoughtfully from the corner of her eye, Lara in response put her phone on speaker and placed it in her lap.

"Not personally, no. You ever heard of Ironman?"

"As in the Black Sabbath track?" she asked dubiously, Amanda chuckled softly besides her at the brunette's cluelessness.

"He's a genius," Amanda chimed in, "and a multi-billionaire who plays superhero every now and again." She finished clicking her tongue against her cheek.

"Well, he's got the money for it." Zip said unaware of Amanda nodding in agreement.

"And this is useful to me how?" Lara asked impatiently, not fully understanding how this Tony Stark was really of any importance.

"He's an engineer, Lara, who's designed some pretty sick security programmes, no-one I knows ever hacked into a Stark computer, and you're home security could really do with an upgrade, 'specially now that some-ones managed to get past your firewall. The only problem is Stark Tech is quite expensive."

Amanda shrunk down against the car seat, Zips latest comment made her feel rather small, whether it was purposefully directed against her or not, Lara gave a gentle squeeze to Amanda's hand and frowned, it was going to take a little longer than she thought for those two to come to terms with each other.

"Money's not a problem for me Zip; you should know this by now."

"Yeah, yeah I know, but I reckon that if you cosy up to him a bit, he'll give you a cheap deal." Lara's brows furrowed, she didn't like where Zip was heading.

"You want me to sleep with him?" she asked bluntly, she saw Amanda's eyes practically bulge out of their sockets at the idea.

"No, just flirt with him a little." At Zips answer both women sighed in relief.

"Miss Croft," their chauffer interrupted, "we're here." Lara looked out of Amanda's window to find that, much like the chauffer had said, they had arrived, the press swarming like bees behind the safety bars.

"Zip, I've got to go." She rushed out as she picked up her phone and hung up not bothering to wait for Zip to reply, she turned to Amanda and nodded towards the mob of reporters waiting for them outside of the car, "Shall we?"

Amanda answered her by leaning over and placing a heady kiss on her lips, the chauffer opened the door just as Amanda pulled away, a smirk on her face as she turned to exit the vehicle. Lara took a second to gather herself before taking hold of the hand Amanda offered to her and stepped out onto the red carpet.

Cameras flashed in her direction before she'd stepped fully out of the Limo, it wasn't everyday that one saw Lara Croft holding another woman's hand, let alone wearing a dress, _tonight_ she decided _was defiantly going to be interesting._

The two women made their way down the carpet, ignoring the questions and rumours spouted by the press. Amanda had long since let go of her hand much to Lara's disappointment, though it spared the blonde the embarrassment of being labelled as a nameless lover and instead could simply be a nameless _'friend'_, if a story was to make tomorrows headlines.

Once entering the main hall of the museum, Lara remembered why she hated these functions so much, the crowds of people she didn't know and didn't care for much trying to draw her into to boorish conversations, always trying to look busy, and interested, and not to mention the bathroom bitching.

At least there was a bar, one that would be dismantled the following morning. But temporary or not a bar was a bar, and Lara, in order to get through tonight would definitely need a drink, so after asking Amanda what she'd like she headed in that general direction.

There were two things she hoped to do tonight, the first was to get Amanda rather drunk, as she'd never seen the blonde drunk, not even in their university days, and the second was to find the infamous Tony Stark, the only problem was she had no idea of what the man bloody looked like.

She'd need a vodka to get through tonight with her sanity intact.

Then some-one who was definitely not Amanda slapped her arse.

Make that a double.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: The cocktails Lara asks for are actual drinks but I didn't take the time to look up the ingredients...Tony Stark is present in this chapter...**_

_**Me: Say 'Hi' Tony **_

_**Tony: Hi...**_

_**Anyways enjoy :)**_

* * *

The bar to her surprise was practically empty when she reached it, with only two men standing against it; the bartender was halfway through the older of the two men's order, which left Lara leaning idly against it, her eyes every now and again shooting in Amanda's direction, where she saw her talking to some strawberry blonde haired woman in a blue dress. Her nostrils flared, for someone who didn't know what kind of relationship Amanda and her had she was quite possessive.

Her mind went blank when the bartender finally took notice of her; she furrowed her 'brow as she tried to remember what it was that Amanda had wanted.

"I'll have a B&B please –on the rocks and a, errr...a ummm..." she paused a bite her lips as she thought of what it was Amanda had asked for, she blushed when she remembered what it was, trust Amanda to try and embarrass her like this, "a wet pussy." She said forcing a confident non-abashed smile to her lips.

The man next to her choked on his drink, the contents spraying half way across the bar, the bartender looked non-phased and continued with mixing Lara's drinks, the man besides her continued to splutter and cough.

He finally cleared his throat and turned to face her, a charming almost tantalizing smile gracing his lips, and had Lara been straighter than she was (as she believed herself to be bi-sexual even though she tended to tilt more towards the company of women), she would have fallen for it within a heartbeat.

His eyes were sincere, "English, right?" he asked her, his accent American, he picked up his drink and took a small sip from the amber liquid.

"Very." Lara replied calmly, her eyes followed the movements of the bartender as he place one of her drinks on the bars surface, the brandy glass a dead giveaway that it was her chosen drink, she picked the glass up by the stem and titled towards her male companion before taking a rather large gulp, it bit the back of her neck as it trickled down her throat.

"So, did you get dragged to this thing too, or...?" he gestured with his drink around the room, he frowned slightly in the way Lara had done moments before as his eyes set over to where Amanda and the redhead were talking.

"Actually, I accepted the invitation." She replied politely, flashing the man a genuine smile, she noticed Amanda watching them from the corner of her eye, feeling her heart lift as she saw a slight tint jealousy shine in blonde's eyes.

"Really? What on earth persuaded you do that, my assistant over there," he said throwing his thumb over his shoulder to the redhead in the blue dress, "practically dragged me to this thing since we're here on business and all." He said earning a small giggle from Lara, as she mentally pictured it.

She took another sip from her glass and then picked up Amanda's drink, having only just noticed it; she turned and slowly made her way over to the two women, "I can't very well miss my own party now, can I?" she questioned over her shoulder with a teasing smile.

He stopped in his tracks before rushing to catch up with her through the crowd, "Wait, so that means you're Lara Croft." He said disbelievingly.

"The one and only." She said upon reaching Amanda, she extended her arm and offered her the drink, which she took with a seductive smile, it did not go unnoticed, the man looked between her and the blonde.

"Ah, so you're that kind of Tomb Raider?" the man asked unabashed, Lara stared at him slightly shocked that he'd just come out with the accusation, were all Americans like this? She had her answer when she noticed Amanda trying to scoff a chuckle followed by an attempt to take a sip of her drink.

"_Tony!" _the redhead exclaimed whacking her boss across the arm, Tony just shrugged.

"I refuse to answer that with a dignified response." Lara said curtly.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said rocking back and forth on his heel, looking rather smug with himself; Amanda was still trying to stifle her giggles, Lara looked at her sharply and they died down instantly.

"Sorry," Amanda apologised, a smile still plastered on her face, "Lara, this is Pepper Potts, personal assistant of Mr. Stark here." Amanda gestured to the redhead, who in response to the introduction nodded politely, while Mr. Stark gave her a shit-eating grin, how Miss. Potts dealt with this man daily she didn't know, for here she was not ten minutes in and she already wanted to throttle him.

"Nice to meet you Miss. Potts, Mr. Stark." she said forcing a pleasant smile on her face, it hurt her cheeks to make the effort.

"It's Tony." Mr. Stark said quickly, earning a nod from Lara.

"I've just been telling Miss. Potts here," Amanda began as she took notice to the ever a mounting tension between Lara and Tony, "about your security needs." Lara's turned her focus onto Amanda, trying to figure out what she was talking about.

"My security needs...?"

"For the Mansion." Amanda offered, hoping that Lara would pick up on what she was getting too, the fact that they'd been talking about it with Zip in the car not one hour ago made Amanda doubt Lara's intelligence, but then again her IQ was sure to drop within this man's company, he may be a genius but right now he sure was an idiot.

"Ah, right, yes of course, how could I forget? My security systems were recently bypassed and my home broken into and I was just wondering if Mr. Stark could possibly upgrade my software, so to speak." Lara said to Pepper, completely ignoring the fact that Mr. Stark was standing right there beside's her. "Money of course, will not be a problem." She added hastily.

Miss. Potts turned to Tony, "I don't think that'll be a problem, should it Mr. Stark?" Lara raised an eyebrow towards Amanda gesturing towards the woman's quick change in honorifics, Amanda just shrugged.

"I don't see why not. What type of security do you currently have?"Mr. Stark asked in full business mode.

"I honestly don't know. You'd have to ask my technical assistant, Zip." Lara said uncomfortably, she was rather embarrassed about not knowing what security she had, but Zip was always on top of such things, only checking the monthly reports he sent her, she put a great amount of trust in him.

"Is there a contact we could use to get in touch with him?" Miss. Potts asks as she pulled out a PDA though slightly more advanced than Lara's and seemingly out of now where.

"Of course" Lara said as she removed her own PDA from her purse for the second time that night, it was preferably easier with two hands. She scrolled through her contacts before handing it to the redhead with a smile.

All the while Tony had been suggestively looking at Amanda, who simply rolled her eyes and took a sip of her drink only to find it empty, she frowned she hadn't been aware that she'd been drinking it.

"Here, let me take that." Tony said pulling the glass from Amanda's fingers before she could argue the matter, having already taken both Lara's and Peppers empty glasses, he threw her a mischievous look as he walked away intent on re-filling her drink, it wasn't every day he had a chance to get a lesbian drunk.

Amanda, without anything to occupy her hands, stood awkwardly, rubbing her arm up and down as she watched the interactions between Lara and Pepper, who looked like two nerds huddling over their game-boys while they fought each other on versus mode, as they swapped information on their PDA's.

She watched as Lara paused half way through a sentence, and frowned slightly, before raising her head at Amanda, the brunette bit her lip teasingly before sending Amanda a bright smile, and then directed her attention once again at Miss Potts, picking up her sentence from where she'd left it; the redheaded woman barely took notice.

Amanda blushed slightly as her stomach flipped, barely able to contain her smile, after all those years of hating Lara, it sure hadn't taken her long to give those feelings up, it was too much effort to constantly hold a grudge against some-one, the fact that she'd managed to hold on to it for so long, she realised, had been all thanks to her Wraith Stone, the relic had subtly manipulated her in believing she'd been in control, when really she hadn't been, spinning her emotions around uncontrollably.

Those six months ago when Lara had asked her to stay, Amanda had felt conflicted, her old feelings for the brunette had resurfaced and had battled tediously against the one's of hate that she'd carried around for years and then, in a rage, she'd smashed the stone, throwing it against the garden wall, and had then proceeded in shooting the darn thing until there was nothing left of it, she felt lighter now than she'd done in years, happier even and it scared her.

She jumped slightly when someone touched her arm, "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Mr. Stark said sheepishly as he gave her, her drink, she smiled at him as she took the glass, muttering a polite 'thank you' she did so.

"I'll make you a deal" Tony said to Lara over his own glass, once he'd pick up on the current conversation, a dirty smile spreading across his face, Pepper groaned involuntary, while Lara raised her eyebrows, willing for him to continue, "I'll give you the software for free, if you two," he gestured towards Amanda and herself as he spoke, "make-out, oh for at least," he checked his watch, "a minute."

Lara contemplated it for a second, running her middle finger along her bottom lip as she thought, her eyes caught Amanda's briefly, the desire in them was unmistakable, but as much as she fancied the idea, she couldn't risk it, not with the press milling about.

She was about to politely refuse the offer but was interrupted by the shrill sound of AC/DC's '_Back in Black'._ Tony excused himself as he pulled a slim transparent, very high-tech phone from his pocket, and walked away from the three women, sharing look with Pepper before he left the main room, and headed for the hallway.

Pepper, who had been vibrant and chatty all of five minutes ago, suddenly became very quiet, the colour drained from her face, and she worried her bottom lip between her teeth nervously, she nodded tentatively when Amanda asked her if everything was okay.

The other two women shared a look, everything was definitely not okay with the redhead, but they didn't dare pry any further.

Tony cautiously came back after a few moments, his lips set in a grimace, "I've gotta go." He said apologetically, Pepper nodded, her face ashen, she looked like she was going to be sick.

"Fury?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

Tony nodded, "C'mere." he pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead, before placing a chaste kiss on her lips. Amanda and Lara looked at each other, slightly confused with the scene before them, _were they dating?_ "I'll be fine Pep. Just a small hostage situation in Russia, it shouldn't take long, I'll be back before you know it." he said with a calming smile, he ran his hands soothingly up and down her arms before kissing her once more, he looked regretfully between Amanda and Lara for a second and then without another word he left the museum.

A red-gold titanium blur past the window not seconds after, "So, I'm guessing that was Ironman?" Lara asked Amanda referring to said blur, Amanda nodded, Pepper looked at her as if she'd grown a second head, "What!" Lara said defensively, suddenly getting the urge to check both shoulders just to be absolutely sure that she hadn't sprouted another head.

Amanda saw the look that Pepper had given Lara, and giggled slightly, she nudged Pepper with her elbow lightly, "She doesn't get out much, and she's English." She said as if that explained everything, Pepper nodded seemingly happy with the reason, Ironman obviously didn't make the headlines as much in the U.K as he did in America.

Their conversation was cut short by the patter of a spoon tapping against a glass, heads turned in its direction only to find Dr. Goodman standing at a podium ready to give a speech.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for coming..."_

* * *

**_A/N: Thanks for reading..._**


	5. Chapter 5

The night was slowly coming to an end as couples left the museum to get back to their children and relieve their babysitters for the evening.

Lara found herself still blushing the speech that Dr. Goodman had delivered hours ago, he'd made her out to be more than she truly was, not that she was complaining, she'd been a diamond in everyone's eye after that.

Then man had thanked her repeatedly for the items she'd temporarily donated to the museum, called her wonderful, and had even compared to her to a cream puff, being slightly tough on the outside, but soft and sweet in the centre, something that Amanda had vouched for, with a nudge with her elbow and a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Come to think of it, perhaps it was the promise of what the rest of tonight would hold that had her blushing, who knew what Amanda would have planned for her, if anything at all.

She smiled into her drink, running her fingers around the rim of the glass as she listened to Pepper and Amanda talk around the table next to her, to where they had relocated after hours of standing, the buzz of the alcohol running about her system drowned out the slight sting to her feet.

She felt a hand on her back and looked up; Dr. Goodman loomed over her, his smile seemed brighter against his dark skin, "Don't stay up too late now." he said with a wink.

Lara smiled, "We won't; in fact, I think it's about time we headed off." She said shooting Pepper an apologetic glance, Tony still hadn't returned from his little adventure, and the two women had taken it upon themselves to keep the redhead company throughout the night, not that either of them had minded much, Pepper was lovely, easy to talk to and exceptionally organised.

Miss. Potts had even mentioned at one point during the night, while Tony had not been present, how her closest friends were gay, it made it easier for her to work for Tony, knowing that none of them would sleep with him if they were ever to be introduced and never talk to her again, something that had apparently happened quite a few times when she'd tried forging relationship with employees of Stark Industries. This was no longer a problem, as they were in fact dating.

But what were a few more friends to the mix?

Lara hated to leave her, feeling slightly guilty, but it was getting rather late, and Amanda had been giving her these irresistibly seductive looks for a while now, it was making her head spin.

"I may as well go too," Pepper said with a forgiving smile, "I don't know how much longer Tonys going to be and I'd rather not wait for him alone." She looked sheepish for a moment before gathering up her purse and followed the other two women to the museum exit.

It had calm down outside, only the few reporters who were desperate to get a good story remained, and the air was refreshingly cool for such a time of night, not like back in England where you'd need at least three woolly jumpers to feel comfortable warm.

They stood outside the door at the top of the stairs for a while as they waited for their car, Lara turned to Pepper, as the Limo pulled up, "Do you need a lift home? I'm sure our driver wouldn't mind taking a detour."

"That's alright, my driver, Happy, will see me home okay." Pepper said as what sounded like and airplane streaked across the night's sky, the three women looked up simultaneously to see a white light pass above them at an amazing speed.

Pepper looked down with a bashful smile, "I'll be fine."

Lara and Amanda both smiled at her and turned to leave, they threw small waves over their shoulders; Lara entwined her pinkie finger with Amanda's as they made their way to the car.

Their chauffer was waiting for them as they approached; he opened the door and allowed them to settle in the back seat before closing the door. Amanda had barely sat down before Lara's lips fell neatly against her own; she opened her mouth in surprise and felt a hot tongue run along the length of her teeth, she moaned.

Either of them noticed the newly arrived Tony Stark stepping out of his own car or his driver and bodyguard, Happy Hogan, standing next to him with a red and gold suitcase attached to his wrist via handcuff, they also didn't notice the satisfied smirk on Tonys lips as he watched their car speed off, or the smack of Pepper's purse against his upper-arm once she'd caught him staring.

If they'd have known about it, they too would have been thankful for the distracting kiss Pepper gave him as their car disappeared from view.

Both of them too distracted with each other to give a toss about the rest of the world.

* * *

_**A/N: sorry for any spelling mistakes. Thanks for reading ^_^**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Warning: This chapter contains sexual situations (fem-slash) **_

The wall of the elevator felt cold against Amanda's heated skin, she gasped loudly at the initial contact, like one would when walking across a cold kitchen floor bare-footed.

Lara took this as an opportunity to kiss her, her tongue taking advantage of Amanda's parted lips, her hands running along the length of the blonde's upper body, before taking a tight grip on her wrists and holding them above the woman's head, Lara pressed her body firmly against Amanda's, pulling away quite suddenly when the elevator doors opened into their room, pulling Amanda by her hand into the bedroom.

They reached for each other as soon as the door closed, their kisses were needy and desperate, a clash of lips, teeth and tongue, their hands ripping at each other's clothes, the need to feel skin under their finger tips was immense, almost controlling.

Amanda held tight to the sides of Lara's face, before making their way down her back and under her arms, her nimble fingers making quick work of the zipper to Lara's dress, pulling the small metal bud down slowly over her waist, almost teasingly, before finally pushing the dress off and over the brunettes slim shoulders, letting the burgundy material pool to the floor.

Amanda bit her lip as Lara's naked body filled her eye line, if only she'd known the brunette had gone commando...

The blonde gently pushed Lara back until the back of her knees hit the bed, both of them falling upon the mattress in a tangled heap of limbs, both of them panting heavily, Amanda's breath was hot against Lara's lips.

Amanda placed a few languid kisses against Lara's lips, "As of now," she started, gently kissing Lara's jaw, and then trailed kissed down her neck "you own," _kiss_, "one of the most valuable," _kiss_, "relics," _kiss_, "you could ever come across." Her hand snaked down Lara's stomach, stopping deliberately just under her navel, her hips bucked in frustration, her pelvis bumping against Amanda's neatly, sending slight tremors through both of them.

Amanda moaned, her head falling against the nape of Lara's neck, the brunette's fingers danced against her lower back, bringing the zipper down as she did so, before taking a hold of her buttocks, forcing their hips to collide again.

"What relic might that be?" Lara asked breathlessly pulling dress from Amanda's shoulders hastily, enjoying the feel of Amanda's lips against her neck as she managed to get the material down past her chest, the blonde wiggled the rest of the dress off, her panties the only barrier between them.

Amanda nudged Lara's chin with her nose, before resting her lips above Lara's, "My heart," she whispered, "promise me you'll take good care of it?"

Lara leaned up on her elbows and kissed Amanda hungrily, "Only if you promise to look after mine." She growled as she arched her leg above Amanda's and flipped them over.

She took hold of Amanda's wrists and held them at the sides of her head, pushing them softly into the pillows, she trailed her tongue around the shell of Amanda's ear, before nibbling it softly, it elicited soft moans from the other woman, her back arched at the touch; her breast's pressed against Lara's tantalizingly.

She kissed softly down to Amanda's breasts, placing kisses along the underside of each one before she took a nipple into her mouth, delicately sucking on the rose-pink flesh, Amanda's soft mewing spurring her on.

She trailed kisses down Amanda's toned stomach and past he navel, she placed a hand across the blonde's torso to still her movements when her hips arched off the bed, her thumb pulling at the waist band of Amanda's underwear, she rolled them all the way down her legs and kissed her way back up, her tongue moved deftly between the blondes legs.

"_Lara..." _

Amanda's moans became louder every time Lara's tongue skilfully flickered across her velvet flesh, her fingers curled into heavy brown hair, her bodily convulsing under Lara's touch as new waves of pleasure worked its way through her body; it felt exquisite.

Once the tremors subsided, Lara worked her way back up Amanda's body, softly placing kisses against her sweaty skin, before lightly pressing her lips against the blondes. She pulled back to find Amanda watching her with hooded eyes and a shy smile, Lara kissed her again and settled herself besides her on the bed, she pulled Amanda close to her, a hand possessively splayed across the blondes stomach.

They lay there spent; their breathing barely breaking the silence as sleep over took them.


	7. Chapter 7

Amanda squinted as the morning sunlight drifted across her face, she growled slightly at the inconvenience and buried herself deeper under the covers trying to once again let sleep overtake her, her plan was thwarted by the gentle tone of Lara's voice drifting to her ears.

She smiled under the duvet; last night's confessions still warmed her heart some. Her head popped from under the bed covers, her eyes sorting out to what Lara's attention was drawn too, stopping when she saw the laptop neatly seated in her –she squealed quietly - girlfriends lap, she didn't take much notice however to what she was doing on it, and was much more focused on trying to get Lara back to bed.

Amanda frowned when she noticed that Lara was wearing her signature blue vest, her hair softly running down her back, she only paid a few more minutes in watching the brunette before placing a kiss on her forearm, "Who could you possibly talking to, if not yourself," she said as she kissed her upper-arm, "at this time in the morning?" Amanda kissed the nap of Lara's neck, who quickly wondered if the blonde was secretly a vampire with all the attention she paid to her neck.

Lara smiled and titled her neck to the other side to let Amanda place another kiss there, suddenly not bothered about her vampire like tendencies, "Zip." She said bluntly.

Amanda tensed, and turned her head to look to the screen, Zip gave her one of those '_I know what you did last night' _smiles and a small wave, "Mornin' Amanda."

The blonde gave a small eye roll in response and tried to hide her embarrassment, she pulled the covers around her a bit more and buried her face further into Lara's neck, the brunette looked down at her briefly with a contented smile not really giving a damn that her assistant was witnessing a tender moment between the two of them, for Amanda and himself it was awkward but she'd given up on what people thought about her years ago.

She gasped lightly when, taken by surprise, Amanda's teeth ran across her shoulder, the blonde looked at the screen defiantly a teasing smile on her lips, she had obviously gotten over her initial embarrassment.

Zip cleared his throat, the sound barely visible through the laptops measly speakers, "So I take it you got the chance to speak with Tony Stark?" he asked, his voice hopeful, the same way a child would sound when asking about his idol, slightly awestruck and possibly a tad jealous.

"Mmm yes we did, we spent most of the night conversing with his assistant actually." Lara replied briefly, Zip frowned.

"We even," Amanda started as she rested her cheek on Lara's shoulder, "saw him in his armour, albeit for a fraction of a second," she paused for effect an evil glint in her eye, "which is probably more than you'll ever get to see."

Zip nodded, and crossed his arms, temptingly rising to the bait, "I've seen Lara naked!" he said with a click of the tongue.

"_What!" _Lara shrieked, slightly aghast at _that_ announcement, she suddenly wanted to know when and more importantly how? Her outburst went unnoticed.

"Who hasn't?" Amanda came back with raising her eyebrows, egging the man on.

"_Hey, now wait a minute!"_ Lara said hotly, raising both hands in frustration, Amanda smiled at her reaction; Zip looked like a scorned child over the video-feed. "Can we _please_ get back on track here?" Lara asked, she took their silence as a means to continue, "Zip, someone from Stark Industries will be getting in touch with you, most probably Miss Potts herself about means of security for the estate. Don't ask me when because I honestly don't know, just be prepared for when they do."

"Not a problem. Did you by any chance find out how this stuff's gunna be installed?" he asked as he quickly checked his phone to see if anyone had tried getting in contact with him, that he possibly might've missed.

"I'm afraid not, sorry." Lara said with a nod of her head.

"Never mind then, I guess I'll find out soon enough, huh?" Lara shrugged causing Amanda's head to bump slightly; the woman didn't seem to mind much, the proof was in the hand lazily tracing circles on Lara's thigh, something that Zip was not able to see.

"So when's your flight home anyways? Winston wants to know so that he can have your room ready for when you get back." Lara smiled, of course he did, Winston was much like a father in that way, although she was pretty sure her room was already impeccable, but it gave the poor man something to do she supposed, other than running around after Zip all day.

"This afternoon, I don't really want to be here anymore than necessary, and beside's I'm sure there are plenty of places far more fascinating than Washington to explore."

"I guess I'll see you soon then." Zip said as his way of a goodbye, giving the two women a one-sided shrug and a small wave, his arm soon taking up most of the shot as he went to turn off his camera.

Lara reached the hood of her laptop and brought it down before moving it onto the side cabinet, she turned to Amanda with a seductive smile, "Now," she said as she pulled the duvet over both of them, "where were we...?"Amanda squealed as they wrestled playfully under the covers.

They did after all have a full morning before even so much as thinking about heading to the airport, and they didn't want to waste it.


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: This is the last chapter guys. **_

_**Thank you for all of those who took the time to read this and/or review, it was much appriciated.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

_**Abbindon estates, three weeks later**_

"How are the upgrades coming?" Lara asked Zip as she walked into the tech room, she came over and lent over Zips shoulder, her eyes focus intensely on the computer screen in front of her watching the upload bar slowly, almost at a snail's pace, fill with red as programme after programme made it way on to the mainframe. It had barely made it past halfway.

"Slow, very, _very_ slow." Zip said as he rubbed his eyes, he'd been up since ridiculous o'clock this morning, and it barely brushed past nine. He lifted his hands above his head and stretched, Lara cringed at the sound of his back clicking. She stood slightly and looked around the room, and sighed, wooden crates were spewed about the room, the Stark Ind. logo printed along the sides.

They'd had a special order come through days ago from the London division of the company, all thanks to one Pepper Potts. The crates had contained new security camera's, that were slightly ahead of their time, a new untested Tony Stark design, that were able to make out brain patterns that was so sensitive that according to the man himself, would be able to spot a clone from a mile away, Pepper had promised that they were flawless, and Lara fully believed her. There had been enough of them to cover every inch of the estate, they were also very small and compact.

She'd had a swarm of technicians' in to set the bloody things up, and now days later the programmes to allow the cameras to work to full capacity were slowly downloading. It had come at quite a shock to Zip this morning to find that his computer had been hijack right under his nose, he'd simply lost control, the files he'd been working on had magically sorted themselves, and numbers much like The Matrix code had run down his computer.

What had been more shocking had been when the next computer in the link had switched itself on, and Tony Starks face had filled the screen, Zips webcam blinking to life to allow the two men to communicate.

It had been quite amusing to watch Zip stumble over his words as he spoke to his hero, he'd gotten over it when Tony had smiled through the camera upon seeing Lara and had simply said 'hey'.

Tony shrugged on his end, "Its gunna be slow I'm afraid, the signal's got a long way to travel," there was a clicking noise in the background of Tonys voice feed, it stopped when Pepper came into view as she set down what looked like a coffee mug, "it is however going faster than I expected it too, the download should be finished in...How many hours was it?" Tony asked looking at the ceiling; the question was obviously not directed at Pepper.

"Two hours and thirty-seven minutes Sir, and fourteen seconds..._thirteen_..." a cool English voice replied, Lara and Zip shared a look.

"Jarvis" Tony explained when he saw the look they shared.

"Jarvis?" Zip and Lara questioned together.

"Just A Really Very Intelligent System..." Pepper offered, "He's Tonys A.I. and practically runs the house, making my job a little easier." Tony swivelled around on his chair to face the redhead and raised an eyebrow at her inquisitively; Pepper shrugged in response and flashed him a cheeky smile.

She gave a small wave to Lara and went back to her work.

"Personal assistants," Tony started, "who needs 'em?"

"You wouldn't last a week without me!" Pepper yelled out of the shot in a sing-song tone, Lara didn't doubt her one bit.

"So, where's Amanda?" Tony asked cheekily.

"Sleeping, if you must know." Lara replied curtly, hoping to God that he kept his mouth shut, but from what she already knew about the man, she doubted he would.

He nodded, and for a second Lara was hopeful, "Busy night, huh?" the American asked with a dirty smile. Lara frowned, from the look on his face she knew that the bastard was picturing them together, it was highly disconcerting. Zip who had been taking a zip of his coffee, now found himself spluttering everywhere, Lara looked at him oddly.

She didn't give him an answer, she left the room instead, with Tony shouting after her, "Shall I take that as a yes!"

_**Later on:**_

Lara, according to Winston, was currently residing in the library, and would be best for him not to disturb her, no matter the information he had for her.

He of course, being American, had not listened to Winston's subtle hints and had strolled straight for Lara's sanctuary, although it had a slightly new layout thanks to the re-modelling it had gone through after the fire.

He didn't so much as acknowledge the girlish giggles coming from inside before he barged in, the sound of the door opening causing Amanda to jump up from her place on Lara's lap, Zip stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Amanda and Lara, both were quite flushed, their clothing ruffled, he watched as Lara pulled her hair back up into its customary pony-tail, trying hard not to shift uncomfortably on the spot as she glared at him.

Amanda stood awkwardly to the one side of the chair Lara was occupying, suddenly becoming very interested in the documents on the desks.

"Yes Zip?" Lara asked sharply, Zip suddenly questioned whether or not it was safe to proceed into the room, he decided it wasn't and opted to stay standing where he was.

"Uh, the software had finished downloading; I just thought you'd like to know." He said quietly, like a child in the wrong, which is pretty much how he felt right now.

"Could this have possibly waited until later?" Lara asked as she cocked her head to the side and studied him; he hadn't missed the venom in her tone, he cowered.

He nodded, "Probably..."

He didn't quite know what to do at that moment, so he just stood there, the two women looked at him oddly, both of them wondering why he was still there, he obviously needed a bigger hint to get lost.

"Was that all?" Amanda asked finally stepping into the conversation, she looked slightly annoyed, but then when didn't she when she was around him, she wasn't the most patient woman, at least not with him anyways.

He racked his brain, there might have been something else, _no_, he _knew_ there was something else, "Yes actually, uh, I gotta message from Tony," both women looked at him pointedly, "he says: 'thanks for the kiss'." Zip had to wonder how close Lara had gotten to the guy.

"Kiss?" she turned to Amanda who simply shook her pretty blonde had, "What kiss, I never-" her eyes bulged as she recalled events after the party in Washington, and of the events before they got in the Limo, the car that had pulled up behind theirs, she recalled the two men who stepped out of it as they'd stepped into theirs, one of them carrying a red and gold briefcase, and of course the kiss, that kiss, the only one he possibly could have seen...

She would never get a moments peace from that perverted man now.

"_Oh, Bloody Hell!"_

_Fini._

**_A/N: Thanks for reading ^_^_**


End file.
